Ski rack

ABSTRACT

A ski rack includes an upright back portion, and a substantially horizontal flange portion integral with the back portion. A slot extends through the flange portion at right angles to the back portion, and a pair of upright, spaced apart wall portions are provided at right angles to both the back portion and the flange portion. The wall portions are on either side of the slot and are integral with both the back and flange portions. The wall portions have a substantial extent in the vertical direction and a spacing such that a pair of skis located between them with the points upward can be retained and supported due to a double contact with the top and bottom of the wall portions.

This invention relates generally to racks for skis, and has to doparticularly with a ski rack construction suitable for use indoors, onwhich a plurality of pairs of skis can be hung vertically.

BACKGROUND OF THIS INVENTION

Brackets intended to be secured to walls and to support various articlesin the vertical or hanging orientation are of course well known.However, there is a need for a ski rack which is able to receive andsupport pairs of skis in such a way that the skis do not need to bebound together before being placed in the rack.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THIS INVENTION

Accordingly, it is a general aspect of this invention to provide a skirack incorporating a construction defining slots in which pairs of skiscan be suspended and retained in a vertical orientation, without firstbeing bound or tied together.

It is another general aspect of this invention to provide a light-weightski rack specially designed to store pairs of skis at the closestpossible spacing in the lateral sense.

More particularly, this invention provides a ski rack which includes anupright back portion, and a substantially horizontal flange portionintegral with the back portion. The flange portion has a slotsubstantially at right angles to the back portion, and a pair ofupright, spaced apart wall portions substantially at right angles toboth the back portion and the flange portion. The wall portions arelocated on either side of the slot and are integral with both the backportion and the flange portion. The wall portions have a substantialextent in the vertical direction and a spacing such that a pair of skislocated therebetween with the points upward can be retained andsupported due to a double contact with the top bottom of the wallportions.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which like numerals denote like parts throughout theseveral views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a ski rack constructed in accordance with thisinvention;

FIG. 2 is a top view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken at the line 4--4 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken at the line 5--5 in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Attention is first directed to FIG. 1, which shows a ski rack generallyat 10, including an upright back portion 12 and a horizontal flangeportion 14. In the embodiment shown, the flange 14 contains two slots 16at right angles to the back portion, and two further slots 18, also atright angles to the back portion 12. It will be noted that the slots 18are defined by upstanding, approximately rectangular walls 20 eachhaving a horizontal top edge 22, a downwardly and slightly forwardlysloping front edge 24 (FIG. 5), a rear edge merging with the backportion 12, and a bottom edge merging with the flange 14.

As can be seen in the figures, the walls 20 are upwardly tapered whenseen in front elevation. This results in the slots 18 being upwardlydivergent, as best seen in FIG. 1. The taper is useful when the ski rackis molded by injection molding from plastic or similar material. Tofacilitate the molding, the back portion 12, the flange 14 and the walls20 are all of hollow design. Moreover, the flange 14 is open rearwardly,i.e. it is possible to have direct access to the interior of the walls20 from the back of the ski rack.

As well seen in FIG. 3, the ski rack in its preferred embodimentincludes ribbing 25 to improve the strength and rigidity of the item.

The design that has been described has a number of advantages which willnow be discussed. The provision of the tall vertical parallel walls 20defining each slot 18 permits the user to hang a pair of skis,particularly cross country skis, without first having to tie the skistogether. The height of the walls 20 prevents the skis from slippingthrough due to the fact that each ski has two outside points of contactwith each wall, one point above the other.

By providing staggered slot heights (the slots 16 are below the upperopening of the slots 18), it is possible to accommodate adjacent pairsof skis within the shortest distance between each pair. In other words,the points of one pair of skis do not lie at the same level andinterfere with the points of adjacent pair of skis. With the arrangementshown in FIG. 1, for example, one could store two pairs of cross countryskis in slots 18 and two pairs of alpine skis in the slots 16.Alternatively, one could store two pairs of cross country skis in thetall slots 18 and ski poles in the bottom slots 16. Again, one couldstore two pairs of alpine skis on the bottom slots and ski poles on thetop slots.

By making the ski rack of plastic, it is possible to avoid scratchingskis when placing and removing them from the rack. Further, the plasticcan be selected to be non-corrosive, of light weight, and of low cost.Since the ski rack is of one-piece or integral construction, it iseasily cleaned. The light weight arises from the fact that theconstruction is hollow.

A number of suitable plastic materials could be selected, such aspolypropylene, high density polyethylene, and others. The plastics maybe thermoplastic or thermosetting. The structure shown in the drawingsis also suitable for the use of structural foam, for example Lexan witha foaming agent.

It will be evident that a plurality of hangers constructed in accordancewith the drawings can be arranged one beside the other in a long row toaccommodate many pairs of skis, for example in a ski lodge area outsideor inside for skiers to hang their skis while they are not skiing.

In the drawings, there are shown mounting holes 27 which convenientlycan be placed 16" apart so as to make the rack suitable for mounting ona stud wall construction in North America, where the studs are typically16" apart.

While the simpler slots 16 are not capable by themselves of preventingunbound skis from slipping through, it will be understood that mostbrake systems on alpine skis allow the skis to be clamped togetherquickly and easily, and thus the simpler slots 16 are ideal for alpineskis of this construction.

It has been pointed out above that retention of a pair of skis in thetall slots 18 comes about due to the fact that each ski has two outsidepoints of contact with each wall 20, one point above the other. It willbe appreciated that, in order to ensure such retention, the width of theeach slot 18 must be selected by taking into account the overall heightof the walls 20. Thus, the taller the walls 20, the larger may be thewidth of the slot 18 while still retaining a pair of typical skis.However, for reasons of economy, it is obviously desirable to reduce theheight of the walls 20 to the lowest value, consistent with reliability.It has been found that, with a height of approximately 53/4" for thewalls 20, the width of the slot 18 at the bottom should be approximately17 mm, diverging upward to 18 mm at the top. A width of 17 mm at thebottom is large enough to ensure that virtually all typical crosscountry skis can fit between the walls. As has already been pointed out,an increase in the height of the walls 20 would permit an increase inthe minimum width of the slot 18, and therefore this invention is notconsidered restricted to any specific dimensions or ratios.

While one embodiment of this invention has been illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and described hereinabove, it will be evident tothose skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be madetherein without departing from the essence of this invention, as setforth in the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:
 1. A ski rack comprising:anupright back portion, a substantially horizontal flange portion integralwith the back portion, a slot-through the flange portion substantiallyat right angles to the back portion, and a pair of upright, spaced apartwall portions substantially at right angles to both the back portion andthe flange portion, the wall portions being on either side of said slotand being integral with both the back portion and the flange portion,the wall portions extending at least about 5.75 inches in the verticaldirection and being spaced apart by at least about 17 mm, such that apair of skis located therebetween with the points upward can be retainedand supported due to a double contact with the top and bottom of thewall portions.
 2. The invention claimed in claim 1, in which the backportion has a top edge and a bottom edge, and in which the flangeportion extends outward from the bottom edge of the back portion.
 3. Theinvention claimed in claim 2, in which the wall portions have a verticalheight substantially equal to the height of the back portion, and arecoextensive therewith.
 4. The invention claimed in claim 1, in which allparts of the ski rack are of hollow construction, in order to reduceweight and amount of material used.
 5. The invention claimed in claim 1,in which the ski rack is molded from plastic material.
 6. The inventionclaimed in claim 3, in which all parts of the ski rack are of hollowconstruction, in order to reduce weight and amount of material used. 7.The invention claimed in claim 6, in which the ski rack is molded fromplastic material.
 8. The invention claimed in claim 3, in which thefacing surfaces of the wall portions are slightly upwardly diverging. 9.The invention claimed in claim 3, in which there are at least two saidslots spaced apart along said flange.
 10. The invention claimed in claim9, in which the said flange further further exhibits at least onefurther slot at substantial right angles to the back portion and spacedform said first-mentioned slots, said at least one further slot beingwithout upright wall portions.
 11. The invention claimed in claim 10, inwhich there are two slots with wall portions and two slots without wallportions.
 12. The invention claimed in claim 4, in which the backportion and the flange portion are both open toward the rear, and inwhich the back portion is provided with ribs for purposes ofstrengthening and rigidifying the ski rack.
 13. The invention claimed inclaim 1, in which the height of the wall portions is substantially53/4", and in which the minimum spacing between the wall portions issubstantially 17 mm.